Saturday, June 27, 2009

Next week, the Hall of Presidents at WDW Magic Kingdom will re-pen, and the new show will have many improvements, beginning by Barack Obama audio-animatronic. Here is the full press release with all the infos!

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – A remarkably lifelike Audio-Animatronics figure of President Barack Obama enters the spotlight in a revised and refreshed Hall of Presidents show that reopens July 4 in Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort.

The recently installed figure of the country’s 44th chief executive – which comes to life with recognizable mannerisms and makes comments that were recorded recently at the White House – is only part of an eight-month makeover so significant that the iconic attraction in the park’s Liberty Square has been retitled Hall of Presidents: A Celebration of Liberty’s Leaders. Other updates to the “re-Imagineered” attraction which has been entertaining Magic Kingdom guests since 1971:

A re-programmed Abraham Lincoln delivers arguably the greatest speech in the history of the presidency – the Gettysburg Address. For the first time in the attraction’s history, George Washington stands and delivers a stirring speech. Developed with the assistance of Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, the show now tells a moving story of the bond between the presidents and “We, the People,” focusing on the chief executives who have guided America through trying, turbulent times.

“Our goal with every major Disney attraction is to completely immerse our guests in a compelling story,” said Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. “The stories associated with the American presidency are some of the most engaging and relevant our guests will hear while they are with us. And, like all great stories, these stories inspire, motivate and teach us to appreciate the challenges and personal triumph that comes with overcoming adversity.”

True to Walt Disney’s vision, Hall of Presidents features the appearance on stage of every United States president – life-sized, three-dimensional and fully animated. Seven presidents have been added to the “Hall” since the attraction opened during the presidency of Richard Nixon.

The figure of President Barack Obama is not only the seventh addition but also the most dynamic figure Disney has ever created. Disney Imagineers, who’ve been refining Audio-Animatronics technology since 1963, have discovered new ways to integrate an array of subtle movements and facial expressions into the figures. Imagineers also worked closely with White House staff to create realistic clothing and accessories worn by the figure in the show, right down to a lapel pin and watch.

Kathy Rogers, senior show producer for Walt Disney Imagineering, says the show pays particular tribute to the strength of the bond between the people and the president “that led us through the most troubling times in our nation’s history.

“We still present that ‘mighty cavalcade of history’ that Walt Disney originally envisioned,” Rogers says, referring to “headline moments” of America’s past that are depicted in the film, “but it is viewed through the lens of the presidency.”

The 25-minute show begins with the story of George Washington and the struggle to build a new nation. It continues through today, highlighting presidents who have reached out to the people during times of strife. Disney senior show writer and director Pam Fisher, who worked closely with Kearns Goodwin to develop the story, describes the revised Hall of Presidents as “a very human story – one that we hope strikes a chord with all guests.”

A soaring new musical score written by Emmy-winning composer Joel McNeely adds another emotional dimension to the experience.

The show’s impact is bolstered by the stirring performances of actor David Morse, who voices Washington, and the late veteran actor Royal Dano, who voices Lincoln. Morse played Washington in the award-winning HBO miniseries, “John Adams.” Dano was selected by Walt Disney himself to voice the first animated Lincoln figure, which debuted at the 1964 New York World’s Fair and later became part of the Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln attraction at Disneyland in California. Obama’s speech, recorded in the White House Map Room, includes the presidential oath of office and his thoughts about “the American dream.”

In the tradition of earlier versions of the show, the rewritten story begins with a large-format movie, but this time it is projected in crystal-clear, high-definition video. Imagineers digitized many of the huge scenic paintings of historic America made for the original movie by Disney legends including Herb Ryman and Sam McKim. In addition, the team combed through the National Archives, Library of Congress, museums and private collections to acquire more than 130 new images ultimately woven into the show.

Imagineers enhanced the soundtrack with digital production and state-of-the-art speakers; they also upgraded the lighting with energy-efficient LED technology.

The new Hall of Presidents experience begins in the pre-show lobby, which has been transformed into an expanded gallery of presidential artifacts. The inaugural exhibit showcases the women behind the presidents. Large display cases exhibit dresses and personal objects worn by several First Ladies, including Edith Roosevelt (Teddy’s wife), Elizabeth Monroe and Nancy Reagan. The historical gallery also displays presidential portraits of Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson and other chief executives, plus two cases filled with personal artifacts of presidents including Gerald Ford, Franklin Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover and George Washington.

Presentations of the Hall of Presidents show will take place daily and are included with Magic Kingdom admission.

Friday, June 26, 2009

The new Pirates League at WDW Magic Kingdom will open June 29! It's the newest buccaneer adventure in the Magic Kingdom, featuring makeovers that turn theme park guests into savvy swashbucklers.

Some weeks ago i show you the rendering below, and now, here come the pictures.

On the picture below, a young boy receives the "Cursed Pirate" makeover. Depending on the pirate package, a trained Pirate Master can transform boys, girls (ages 3 and up) and grownups into pirates, buccaneers and maidens using facial effects, fake scars, removable teeth, hats, bandanas and other costume accessories. Included in each of the three packages offered: a sword and sheath, earring and eye patch, temporary tattoo, exclusive pirate coin necklace, map case folder, a personalized pirate oath and a pirate portrait.

Starting in late June, the Pearl drops anchor in Adventureland at Magic Kingdom for The Pirates League, recruiting and training Walt Disney World guests ages 3 and up in the scurrilous ways of buccaneers.

Each guest checking in at the plunder-filled pirate’s lair gets an official pirate name. Then it’s off to Muster Station for applications of beards and eye patches, scarves and scars, earrings and gold teeth – all done with the savvy skill of a veteran pirate who shares his own tales of sea-sailing adventures.

After the new buccaneers recite a sacred pirate oath, they are officially part of Captain Jack’s motley crew, leaving their old identities behind. Past a hidden portal and into the treasure room, the shipmates have their “pirate portrait” taken before being turned loose on an unsuspecting Adventureland – and no doubt feeling right at home at the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction.

Newly donned swashbucklers can test their pirate prowess on the streets of Adventureland where they search for clues and discover treasures. And for mateys who need a little more training, learn the secrets for survival by the captain himself during “Captain Jack Sparrow’s Pirate Tutorial.”

Boys, girls and grownups ready for the pirate life can start the process by calling 407/WDW-CREW

The whole world is under schock of Michael Jackson's death today. As i've said yesterday in my tribute post Michael was the uber Peter Pan, the only one who ever had the means to stay a "Peter Pan" all his life. And, as any Peter Pan he was dreaming to live in his own Neverland. The only difference being that he actually did it, and built his own Neverland.

He was also the only one to have a replica of Main Street Station and the Disneyland railroad...

So let's have a last visit in what was Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch thanks to the videos below.

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Thursday, June 25, 2009

Michael Jackson died after being taken to a hospital on Thursday after suffering cardiac arrest, according to multiple reports including the Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press. He was not breathing when paramedics arrived at his home and had been in a coma at the hospital. Whatever one can think about Michael, i think we can remember all the good times we had at Disneyland with Captain Eo, and most of all, his great great music, specially when Quincy Jones was his producer.

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Michael always said that "he was Peter Pan" and real Peter Pan don't necessarily live old. Michael's love for Disneyland was so sincere that, as we know, he built his own Magic Kingdom at his "Neverland". I think it's fair to say that, of all the Peter Pan who exist on this planet, Michael was the only one who have "pushed" his "Peter Pan syndrome" to the very end - he also was the only one who have no limits - financially speaking - to do it and to escape reality. This was his destiny.

Very sad news, really. We love you, Michael, wherever you are.

Below, a rare video of Michael at Disneyland Paris in 1992 or so, at a time where he was persona grata.

And here is the full Captain EO movie.

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Great news for Hong Kong Disneyland as Reuters Press agency announced that a HK government and the WDC have a deal on the expansion of the park, and this should be announced officially on June 30th! Let's just cross our fingers that this time, it's for real.

HONG KONG, June 25 (Reuters) - Hong Kong has reached a deal with the Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) to expand the local Disney theme park, seen as necessary to bolster the park's long-term prospects against a Shanghai rival, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

The agreement is expected to be announced by June 30, with details of the deal to be laid out to local legislators in a special meeting, the Hong Kong Economic Times reported.

A spokeswoman for the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, which oversees the Disneyland project, confirmed to Reuters that a special meeting had been called, but disclosed no specifics.

The report said the deal was expected to be worth HK$7 billion ($903.3 million) of which HK$4 billion would be used for expansion.

The size of Hong Kong Disneyland, the smallest of Disney's magic kingdoms, is expected to almost double, with construction to begin within a year, pending approval from the city's legislative council in July, the newspaper reported.

Hong Kong's Financial Secretary John Tsang travelled to Los Angeles in May, where he met senior Disney executives. The trip is seen to have paved the way for the breakthrough after Disney earlier said it would stall any expansion amid the credit crunch.

There was no immediate response from Tsang's office.

When contacted by Reuters, a Disney official in the United States said discussions are ongoing, without giving any specifics.

The Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) earlier indicated it would likely invest more capital in Hong Kong Disneyland and allow the Hong Kong government to convert its loans to equity to maintain its majority share of the theme park, a source involved in their talks told Reuters earlier.

The Hong Kong government, which owns 57 percent of the underperforming resort, desperately needs the expansion to boost flagging attendance, with a much larger rival Disneyland expected to be built in Shanghai in 2014 that could draw much visitor traffic from the burgeoning mainland China market.

"At this stage, we have to support the expansion otherwise it will be very difficult to compete with Shanghai in five to six years time," said legislator Fred Li of the Democratic Party, who said his party backed the expansion as long as Disney boosted its financial transparency in future on attendance figures. (Additional reporting by Gina Keating in Los Angeles) (Reporting by James Pomfret; Editing by Chris Lewis and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

"It looks like the Walt Disney Company (DIS) and the Hong Kong government have finally reached an agreement to expand their undersized and underperforming Hong Kong version of the Magic Kingdom... However it appears as though Disney ended up making all the concessions. According to press reports, Disney will pay for the entire expansion costing as much as $800 million. The government will convert its debt to equity to prevent its share from being diluted below the 50% mark. The Hong Kong government, quite rightly, was reluctant to pony up any more cash into the money-losing park considered too small to attract enough first time visitors, let alone getting them to come back. Although Hong Kong covered more than 80% of the initial $2.9 billion cost of the project, the government has just a 57% share in the joint venture, with Disney holding the other 43%."

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At the request of many of you, Disney and more has now Discussion Forums! Although you're always welcome to leave your comment on each article in the "Comments" section, i thought that having an "official" discussion forum where you can discuss D&M articles would be even better!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Remember the Ultimate Wall-E robot last year? Yes, the one that was released only in the U.S and hard to find. WEll, a new "ultimate" Pixar toy will be released this fall, and it's an ultimate Buzz Lightyear robot that will responds to voice command!

16" high, 100 different phrases programmed and of course multiple motions, its price should be around $130 -150. However, and it's a big difference with the ultimate Wall-E which was able to move, this new Buzz won't walk by itself. His arms, body, head and even lips will move but, as you can check on the video below, not the legs. i suppose we can't have everything. So, it's an "ultimate Buzz Lightyear"... not totally ultimate! But no problem, he looks already very cool. Not as cool as the big Buzz Audio-Animatronic that exist in the Buzz Lightyear attraction pre-show, but it's not the same price! More infos about it available on the Gizmodo web site.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Don't know if you've noticed it, but it has been quite a while since we've heard about the awaited "Soarin' over the World" movie. Generally, in the forum rumors, everybody keep saying that the movie has been filmed, and should arrive at DCA or Epcot anytime soon.

On the DLP forums, most of the members were ready to bet some months ago that "Soarin over the World" would be the next big "E-Ticket" at the Walt Disney Studios - I even wrote an article explaining where the Imagineers kept the room at the WDS to build the attraction in the future. And then, it became almost official that a Ratatouille dark ride should be WDS next big E-Ticket and no-Soarin' attraction was schedule for the future.

Well, the reality of all this is a bit different. Soarin' over the World will definitely not be the next attraction at WDS, but it doesn't mean that it will never come at the WDS. In fact, if DLP executives didn't choose it as the next WDS E-Ticket it's simply because they couldn't do it. Why? Simply because the movie is not filmed yet, and won't be before 2010!

Last year, WDI imagineers began scouting locations around the world, and they will continue this year. Once the locations are choosen, they'll need to have government's authorizations to film from an helicopter, and in some not-totally-democratic countries it's not that easy and can take a long time. The shooting itself - except if they change the dates - is scheduled for 2010. There is probably different reasons for that. First, the new "grand opening" of Disney's Caifornia Adventure - the park who need the most a new Soarin' movie as the first one is already 9 years old - won't be before 2011-2012. And it seems that Disney and WDI want to "keep" the new movie for this new beginning of DCA. And Two: an economic reason. Lot of works will happen at DCA in the next two years, it's not going to be cheap this time and they are definitely more important to create a brand new park than a new Soarin' movie.

So, let's keep the date of 2010 for the shooting. Now, may be it don't looks like, but this "Soaring over the World movie" is going to be a real challenge for WDI imagineers. Why, you ask? Well, as in this new "Soarin'" movie we will soar "over and around the world" it means different filming in different locations, right? And here come the question of the best season. Very probably the filming should happen in spring or early summer, to avoid landscapes with no leaves on the trees of winter or summer monsoon rains in other locations. Not to mention that for some other countries, it will be another season than spring which may be the right one for filming.

Before i go further, a little warning as there will be some spoilers ahead.

Now, the big question is : over which location will we "soar" in this new movie? Well, WDI imagineers have chosen some countries and if they don't change their plans, prepare yourself to soar over England, France, Italy, Egypt, India, China, Japan, and for the U.S.A: the Grand Canyon - which, by the way, is a perfect logical choice, as it’s one of the most known America's natural wonder. We must not forget that the movie will probably be watched in different countries, on different continents - not only eventually at the WDS but may be, too, at TDS - and WDI Imagineers have to take this into account. Whoever you will ask in Europe or Japan, everybody have seen pictures of the Grand Canyon and know about it.

Also, there is no South America country in the list above - which doesn't mean it's not part of the Imagineers plans. They have the choice: Brasil and Rio de Janeiro's bay or Iguaçu Falls, The Amazonia forest, The old Inca Machu-Pichu fortress in Peru, all these would be spectacular locations to soar above...

However, the other part of the Imagineers challenge will be probably to avoid filming a too "obvious" Travelogue. It's not going to be easy, as each country have its own iconic place/city/monument and it's a little bit everyone's dream to fly above them.

Now, what is coming next is pure personal thought, as i don't know which place in each country will be filmed. I mean: i really don't know. So what you will read below is pure personal speculation, although the locations choice below could very well be the one that will be filmed!

Also, please note that the pictures below are NOT Disney pictures, but a photomontage that i did with aerial views and the "Soarin'" vehicle from the "Soarin' over California" press picture. I've tried to choose aerial views which give you the soaring "vertigo" feeling as close as it should be in the final movie - click on each picture to see them in big size to get the "effect".

Now, think about the India sequence, who wouldn't love to soar above the beautiful and romantic Taj Mahal?...

...or, for Italy, over the gorgeous Venise, the City of the Doges? Soaring over the Grand Canal would be great!

For England, will we soar over the legendary Tower Bridge? I can almost see the camera plunging between the two towers of the bridge...

...And for China, can we escape to soar above The Forbidden City?

But may be it's a wrong question. Everyone would love to fly over these historical landmarks, so where is the problem to fulfill our dreams? So WDI Imagineers shouldn't think if a location is too obvious or not, it's not the problem, really!

Then, because we will travel around the world, i'm ready to bet that imagineers will play with the time of the day. And, because each location do have a "better" time to be filmed, WDI Imagineers will be right to do so. Why not, for instance, begin the "flight" by the Giza Pyramids at dawn? I know very well the place, i've been there many times in my life, and the best time for magical light on Giza Pyramids is definitely at dawn. Also, Egypt civilisation is the oldest one of all the countries listed above. To choose for the opening sequence Egypt and a dazzling view of the Pyramids at dawn would make perfect sense.

As for the evening sequence, soaring over London by night - the old Victorian city, the town of Peter Pan and the Darling family - would be wonderful. And if they need a Magic Kingdom for the "fireworks" final sequence, there is Disneyland Paris, just a few miles down in the south!

Even better: the best would be to have a different ending for each park where the attraction will play in the future. Take Hong Kong Disneyland for instance. Hong Kong at night is dazzling, and then they could "cut" to a scene with fireworks over HKDL castle. Same for Epcot, or TDL or the future Shanghaî Disneyland. Different ending for each park will not only be logical, but also great for fans who will discover a not-totally-the-same version when they'll visit Disney parks in other countries...

But in each country there is also plenty of natural wonders like, for instance, the Grand Canyon. And WDI imagineers may prefer to film them instead of cities or historical landmark like the Forbidden City in Beijing. Or may be they will do a mix of both to help the audience to identify instantly the "country".

To come back to the release date, once the filming will be done in 2010 the Imagineers will still have to do the editing and the music score, fix everything right which takes sometime, some months...and all of this lead us to the end of 2010. And, as NO new attraction is opening in winter ( okay, except Star Tours in January 1987, i agree ) i think it's reasonable to say that a grand opening of "Soarin' over the world" won't happen before - at least - 2011.

One more thing, and i'm sure that most of you who've ride the first "Soarin'" will agree with me: Dear Imagineers, please try to do a longer movie - which should be the case anyway as a roundtrip around the world in less than 5 minutes would be reaaally too short - 7-8 minutes would be fine, if possible ten, it's never too long when you soar above all these wonders...even if we must keep in mind the attraction hour capacity. Also: pleaaaase keep - or adapt - the original and fantastic Jerry Goldsmith music score!

In the meantime, let's all be patient and wait with confidence until 2011, as we can be sure that this awaited "Soarin' over the world" will be an awesome experience!

Disney released a new "Nightastic" video and this is one is longer - and better - than the previous one. Have a look!

And for those of you - just like me - who won't be able to go to Disneyland this summer here is a two part video of the Nightastic fireworks - including the sequence with Dumbo flying over the castle - as well as one of the new Main Street Electrical Parade at DCA both shot in High-Definition by HV10N90!

Monday, June 22, 2009

If there is a movie that i'm really waiting for, it's Tim Burton's version of Alice in Wonderland. The movie won't be released before March 5, 2010, but in recent interviews Burton announced that we have to expect a slightly "darker" Alice in Wonderland.

Today the guys of the CC2K site succeed to get a copy of the script and you can read their script review - full of spoilers so, beware - HERE.

The young Mia Wasikowska - 19 years old - is "Alice" - but 17 years old Alice returning back to Wonderland....

Here is a new picture of Alice when she's "small".

Most of the book's famous characters will be in the movie and it's Johnny Depp himself who will play the madhatter character - a perfect casting indeed.

Here are TweedleDee and TweedleDum.

Helena Bonham Carter is playing the Red Queen...

And Anne Hathaway is the good White Queen...

Disney also released concept-arts showing some decors of the movie

As you've already guess, we must expect a very different Alice in Wonderland, darker, but also closer to Tim Burton usual world. I think it can be great, we'll check this next year!

Luxo Jr, the famous Pixar mascott is the new WDI Audio-Animatronic "living character" and is now "live" at Disney Hollywood studios!

Luxo Jr premiered today at Pixar place and the animatronic lamp have two different shows. During day time Luxo Jr come out and dance on different Pixar tunes - including You have a friend in me - and on night time Luxo Jr lights up Pixar place.

After WALL-E and Remy the rat from Ratatouille, this is the third Pixar living character designed by WDI imagineers.

Have a look at the very good video below and more pictures available on the Jeff Lange web site HERE.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

As a lot of my D&M readers asked me if my "Disneyland Paris, From Sketch to Reality" book is still available, here is everything you need to know if you want to order one of the last signed copy of this beautiful book. Please note that NO re-printing of the book is scheduled, and these last available copies may be the REAL last one!

Even at the park where i was two weeks ago, it was impossible to find a copy of the english edition. When i asked at the Storybook store if they had the english edition, i was told that they were out of stock.

So, if you don't have it yet and don't want to miss this 320 pages and 750 pictures book - including 250 renderings from Walt Disney Imagineering, i'm afraid to say that it's may be now or never...

As i am one of the two authors of the book, I will personnaly sign EACH copy with a special dedication to you or anyone you wish if your purchase of the book is for a gift.

I HAVE FEW COPIES OF THE ENGLISH EDITION. IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR THE ENGLISH EDITION OF THE BOOK WITH THE TEXT IN ENGLISH:

Price for one copy of the english updated edition is 87 Euros + 15 Euros for shipping.

If you have a Paypal account you can proceed to the payment by paypal - paypal payment must be sent to the email adress: lawrence55@wanadoo.fr

Important: Note that the price is in Euros, not in U.S $, so you have to choose the "euro" currency when you do the paypal payment.

I HAVE ALSO COPIES OF THE FRENCH EDITION. IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR THE FRENCH EDITION OF THE BOOK - WITH THE TEXT IN FRENCH:

Price for one copy of the english updated edition is 87 Euros + 15 Euros for shipping.

If you have a Paypal account you can proceed to the payment by paypal - paypal payment must be sent to the email adress: lawrence55@wanadoo.fr

Important: Note that the price is in Euros, not in U.S $, so you have to choose the "euro" currency when you do the paypal payment.

Please confirm me your purchase of the book and payment with an email at: lawrence55@wanadoo.fr

And, of course, thanks to confirm me your order and payment AND the shipping adress by email at the email adress: lawrence55@wanadoo.fr

If you don't have a Paypal account, a bank wire transfert is possible, just let me know.

As i am the one who designed the book, i'm not really at the good place to send compliments about it, but if you are a reader who already own the book, please leave a comment at the end of the article to let other readers know what you think about it.Previous comments can be read at the bottom of this page where the article below was previously posted.

So, here is a little description of the book, now - See below some pictures of the book pages - click on each of them to see the photo-montage pictures in big size.

The book is a gorgeous "coffee table book" with 320 pages and 750 pictures - of which 500 are park and attractions photos and 250 are Walt Disney Imagineering renderings!

The size is 9 x 12 inches, all pages are in color and it's hardbound with a glossy dust jacket. The text (by Disney historian Didier Ghez), was written after more than 75 interviews he conducted with all the Imagineers who created the park. He goes into just about everything you wanted to know about this unique place that many describe as the best "Magic Kingdom" ever created by WDI.

It took five years to create the book, but it was worth all the time we spent on it, and the book looks just as good as we had hoped for at the beginning - in fact Imagineer Bruce Gordon told us that it was "probably the best book ever done on a Disney theme park". Coming from Bruce who did with David Mumford the great "Disneyland, The Nickel Tour" book, it was more than a compliment.

The first chapter about Main Street has 52 pages and introduces the reader to the "legend" of Main Street, USA. You'll learn all about the Disneyland Paris Railroad, the unique "Discovery" and "Liberty" Arcades; find out about the architecture, the restaurants (like "Walt's," a tribute to Walt Disney, but also inspired by Club 33 in Anaheim) and the shops; with dozens of photos, renderings, models, and reproduced for the first time here, all the "cities of the future" posters located in "Discovery Arcade."

The second chapter on Frontierland discusses the park's western side with extensive sections about its major attractions, "Big Thunder Mountain" and "Phantom Manor." In fact the book has the longest sections ever put together in a book on all the major attractions. The Pirates of Caribbean section in the Adventureland chapter is 26 pages, Phantom Manor has 16 pages devoted to it, as does Space Mountain, it's a small world, etc. The photo material was so great that we kept adding more pages to the book, which was supposed to have only 240 pages when we started... we ended up with 320 upon completion!

The Frontierland chapter also covers the Mark Twain, the River Rogue Keelboats, Fort Comstock, all the restaurants, the shops and Cottonwood Creek Ranch.and featuring stunning photos of Disneyland Paris from the air by Yann Arthus Bertrand, author of The Earth from Above that make spectacular "double-pages," and allow the reader to discover the park from a whole different angle.

The Adventureland chapter is even more interesting, as many elements of the land exist only in Paris - such as the Bazaar and Aladdin to Africa and the ex-"Explorer's Club." Plus there's a long section about "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril," "Adventure Isle" and "The Swiss Robinson Treehouse" and, of course, "Pirates of Caribbean" the land's major attraction and featuring its amazing Audio-Animatronics! All in all there are 56 full pages about Adventureland, and as in the previous chapters, there are dozens of photos, lots of concept art, and many shots of Imagineers at work. There's even a great bonus here, with the Marc Davis artwork for "Pirates" also included.

56 full pages are also dedicated to Fantasyland. There's an extensive look at Sleeping Beauty Castle, sections on all the dark rides (Snow White, Peter Pan and Pinocchio), as well as a look at "Alice's Curious Labyrinth," the "Mad Hatter's Tea Cups," "Storybookland," and "Casey Jr." There are even 14 pages about "it's a small world" with stunning photos of nearly all the scenes in it. Here the reader can discover a new attraction that exists only at Disneyland Paris, with a great view from above of Alice's Labyrinth.

Discoveryland also gets 52 pages of special treatment, with sections on the Visionarium, the Nautilus, Star Tours, Space Mountain, and everything you wanted to know about the other attractions in this land – Autopia and Orbitron. In fact the Nautilus chapter takes you on a visit with photos of every room of this detailed walk-through and two double page photo spreads, one which makes you feel you're inside Captain Nemo's grand salon, and the other showing you a unique view of Discoveyland featuring the Nautilus and Space Mountain in a kind of "CinemaScope" view.

When the book was released in early 2002, the Walt Disney Studios didn't exist, so you won't see them in the book. But there's still one last chapter about the hotels of the park, and Disney Village too, with the great Buffalo Bill Wild West show that entertains hundreds each evening.

And because every day in a Magic Kingdom should end with a parade and fireworks, we have the Main Street Electrical Parade that close the book, with an Herb Ryman gorgeous painting, see picture on the top of this post.

NEW! Disney and more Surveys !

I introduce today on the right bar of this D&M website a series of surveys to know what YOU wish as new additions / rides / lands for Disneyland Paris park and the Walt Disney Studios! Depending of the survey, as indicated, you're asked to choose either one, two, or three choices. And results can be seen instantly.

The folks of Disney are following Disney and more and your opinion may have more influence than you think for future attractions, so make sure to do the survey! The survey don't request any name, email address, etc, so it's totally anonymous. Make sure to think wisely for your answers, as you can choose only one time!

These surveys may not appear on a mobile device so you need to answer them from your computer.

Tower of Terror SURVEY!

I add today Sept 22 a new survey below, and the question for this one is simple : do you wish that the WDS Tower of Terror will be transformed in a Guardians of Galaxy ride, similar to the one at DCA? Go ahead, place your answer!

Choose ONE Favorite Land for DLP WDS

Choose the THREE favorite LANDS you wish for DLP WDS

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Hello everyone, thanks to Max, D&M contributor and DLPWelcome webmaster i have for you today a looong article with which you'll hav...

Disneyland Paris Book

The acclaimed Disneyland Paris, From Sketch to Reality 320 pages book is no longer available from the publishing company Neverland Editions which has stop its activities. Anyone looking for an English or French edition copy must send me an email at nme4@wanadoo.fr and i'll tell you where or how to find one. Le livre Disneyland Paris, De l’Esquisse à la Cration n'est plus disponible auprès de la société d'édition Neverland Editions qui a arrêté son activité. Toute personne à la recherche d’un exemplaire du livre en français ou en anglais doit m'envoyer un email à nme4@wanadoo.fr

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NEW! Theme Park Design Book!

David Younger's Theme Park Design & The Art of Themed Entertainment Is the Awesome Book About "Imagineering" that theme parks fans have always dreamed about! Don't miss this fantastic 570 pages book that you can order in one click with the Paypal button below! The Paypal button menu also include an option to buy both the Theme Park Design book AND the Disneyland Paris book if you wish! To learn more about the book, click on the above cover picture.

Paypal Button Theme Park Design

Theme Park Design Book

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For an important message, or infos about the DLP book, or if you have pictures who will be great for an article on Disney and more you can contact me at: lawrence55@wanadoo.fr

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